One Moment Is All It Takes…
by Queen0fHearts94
Summary: One moment, one moment is all it takes. The sounds, the world, what you see in the moment… All these things and it only takes one, one singular person to change how the future turns out, your future. And it all begins with that world stopping moment, when two eyes locked, there was no sound, nothing moved, and all they could see was each other.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! This is my first story ever. Give me some feed back and I'll upload more! The main pairing is Nathan and Haley, one of my favorite couples. Future pairings to be decided. I don't own anything from One Tree Hill, sadly. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1:

In every second we see the world around us, it's changing. How can you see something so definite when the world around you stops? In moments leading to others there has always been something different about meeting the love of your life. The sounds, the world, what you see in the moment… All these things and it only takes one, one singular person to change how the future turns out, your future. And it all begins with that world stopping moment, when two eyes locked, there was no sound, nothing moved, and all they could see was each other.

 _13 hours earlier_

"Would you hurry your ass up, I don't want to be late Tutor Girl!" Brooke whined from the bottom of the stairs.

Haley had heard nothing but whining and bitching ever since they had started loading the boxes into the van. She groaned as she lifted another one of Brooke's heavy suitcases, and marched down the stairs as fast she could. In normal circumstances it was usually her telling Brooke to hurry her ass up but she didn't mind, her excitement just seemed to get the best of her which probably explained why she was getting Brooke's things instead of the other way around. They were finally going to college, together, and nothing could possibly put her in a bad mood. She slowly set down the last suitcase and smiled at her best friend in the whole world, Lucas Scott, who was currently loading everything into his vehicle along with his stuff as well. They were all going to NYC, something that was a dream of theirs ever since they were in middle school, and as Haley stood their staring at her house, she thought about how they all got here.

Haley James, Lucas Scott, and Brooke Davis had known each other since Kindergarten, an accident in which, some little boy tripped Haley by accident, falling himself and colliding into another little girl that had just walked in to the room. Long story short they had been inseparable from each other since. Now just out of high school, Haley looked at Brooke and Lucas and giggled to herself, watching a heated exchange about Brooke's mass amount of stuff and the little car that they could put it all in. Brooke Davis was the popular girl in high school, always a favorite with the guys and an image for girls, captain of the cheerleading squad, class president, and a talent behind a sowing machine, but there was more to her, something only her close friends could see. As Lucas had always said, she was going to change the world someday, he just didn't know when. Lucas Scott was as Brooke called him Broody, he was a loner, yet was a star basketball player, his love for literature and good taste in music was something that had kept Haley and him close, same interests and understanding of the world. Haley James was the smartest person to come out of Tree Hill high school, she loved to sing (only her close friends knew that) and she loved the quieter homey feeling of life.

That was probably what made the three so great together, she was mellow, Brooke was a bundle of energy, and Lucas was in between. She shook her head as she watched Brooke's hand ball into a fist.

"Tigger, leave Luke alone, I'll just put the rest in my car, he does only have so much room." She said while walking up and putting her arm around her other best friend.

"It's just not fair, he barely has anything why can't I put the rest of my stuff in there, and it _is_ only a few bags." She pouted at Luke as he rolled his eyes.

"I want to put some more stuff in _my_ car Brooke, give Haley the rest, besides if you want me to unpack the rest when we get there then stop complaining." He glared, shaking his head at her.

"Fine! But only because I don't want to unpack this shit." She looked at them and grinned.

"Tigger, you are unbelievable."

"You know you both love me!" She skipped off towards the house.

"Why do we put up with her in the first place…?" Luke looked at Haley as she was shaking her head smiling.

"Because, without Brooke, our whole lives would be boring." She laughed at his deadpanned expression.

"Good point, help me get the last of these bags, will you?"

Finally finished with loading up their stuff, Haley, Brooke and Lucas looked around at their two houses side by side and their parents chatting getting ready to say goodbye. Haley smiled as she saw her mom and dad standing there acting goofy. Of course they would, she thought, Lydia James and Jimmy James were the goofiest people anyone would know.

"I'm going to miss you mom, I love you so much…." Haley hugged her mother tight, the woman who she trusted her secrets with, who would always be there for her, especially when she fought with her sisters Taylor and Quinn. She let go of her mother and knew how hard this would be to say goodbye to her family, she quickly ran into her dad's waiting arms smiling as a couple tears fell from her eyes.

"We will miss you baby girl, be good and remember no boys…"

"Daddy, I'll be fine, and I doubt that last request with Brooke around." She mumbled as Brooke stuck her tongue out at her hugging Lydia as she did so.

"Haley-bop don't forget to call us and tell us when you get there okay? Brooke you make sure she gets settled in the big city, you two are like my daughters and I worry." Lydia smiled putting her arms around Brooke and Haley. Brooke had moved in with the James' after her mother and father just abandoned her on her own when she was 16 years old, leaving for their own selfish reasons, it wasn't something they brought up a lot.

"Don't worry Momma J, we will, you can blame Lucas if we don't." Brooke grinned.

"Hey I heard that!" Luke looked over from a very emotional hug with his mother Karen Scott and his Uncle Keith/Dad, his mother remarried and Lucas agreed to sign over adoption papers making Keith his father. Nobody knew what happened to his real father, all he knew was that he remarried and had his wife pregnant 4 months later from separating from his mother after high school, his mom didn't talk about it. Of course Haley knew he didn't care, he often did question and wonder what his half-brother would be like but then would shrug it off smiling and saying he lucked out.

"He better or he will get his butt beat." Karen said looking at her son.

"Don't worry I'll take care of Thing 1 and Thing 2."

"Hey!" Both girls glared.

"Well, you guys better hit the road, long drive a head of you and you don't want to miss orientation." Keith said while looking at his watch as they said there final goodbyes.

"Bye everyone we love you!" All three of them shouted from their designated cars. Haley smiled while looking down the road, this was the beginning, to what she didn't know, but the beginning.

They soon arrived in the big city, finding the drive to get to the school hard with traffic but soon finding themselves in the freshman parking lot unloading into their new dorms. Haley had lucked out and requested Brooke to be her roommate and somehow managed to get them in the same room. Lucas was in the same building but had never met his roommate before now, he only knew that his name was Antwon Taylor and he lived close to where Lucas lived in Tree Hill. Haley looked around loving the feel of the city around her, it felt different, loud noises, busy streets, and new people. Haley and Brooke finally got everything unloaded and found themselves on the third floor of a six floor building, Lucas was on the fifth getting his stuff ready now and probably meeting his new roommate.

"AAHHHH!" They heard screaming going past their door, this was definitely going to be a new experience, Haley thought.

"So are you excited for orientation?" Brooke smiled. She was currently rearranging her closet.

"Oh you know, it should be fun, meet new people, and getting to see the campus better, so yeah." She fumbled with trying to make her bed.

"Not to mention the amount of hot guys here, this is New York City, there is a bundle of yummy men to pick from, no more goody goody this year Tutor Girl." Brooke grinned while opening another large bag full of clothes. Haley was about to respond but the dorm across the hall started blaring extremely loud music. Haley looked over and noticed a girl with wavy blonde hair sticking up band posters in the room.

"Hey!" She yelled over the music, the girl looked over and quickly jumped off the bed turning the music down.

"Hi, can I help you?" She had the same brooding face as Lucas did when he listened to music like that.

"I'm Haley James, I live across the hall good music by the way." She smiled sticking her hand out making the blond girl smile.

"I'm Peyton, Peyton Sawyer. It's nice to meet someone with good music taste finally, what's your major?"

"English Education, with a minor in Music. What about you?"

"Oh I am technically a Music major, but I want to own my own recording label someday." Haley smiled at her.

"That's pretty cool. What…" Before she could respond Brooke bounced in the room sticking her hand out grinning.

"Brooke Davis, soon to be fashion designer and Haley's roommate."

"Hi, Peyton. Nice to meet you." She laughed as Brooke bounced back over to Haley's side.

"You'll have to forgive her, she is nothing but energy." Haley shook her head.

"You two know each other before coming here?"

"Yep, I've known Hales my whole life. So it kind of worked asking to dorm together."

"Cool." Peyton smiled.

"Well, we should get back to unpacking don't be a stranger stop by and hang out whenever you want." Haley smiled as she and Brooke left the room to their own.

After finishing unpacking they finally got themselves around for orientation, they both agreed that they would check on Lucas later tonight and meet his roomie. Haley got separated from Brooke when she walked into orientation, being split into her major's department and putting on her name tag she took a deep breath. Soon she found Luke in her group and sighed relief though, luckily he was just as antisocial as her and they both talked about their floors.

"So how is the new roomie?"

"Skillz, as he prefers to be called is one awesome dude, he plays basketball too, and thank god I thought I was going to be stuck with some illiterate football jock." He smirked.

"Awe sounds like you have a crush." She laughed as he pinched her arm.

"Very funny, you're just jealous because that means you can't have me." He stuck his tongue out at her as he sat down in the big audience of people, waiting for her to sit down but Haley had zoned out.

What really happened was the instantaneous moment of two people's eyes locking and the world slowing around them. He had beautiful dark blue eyes, dark raven hair cut short, and was fit looking, he looked like a walking Greek god and she couldn't pull her eyes away. He had the softest smile on his face and although she had sat next to Lucas, he wasn't looking away. She found her heart racing, hearing nothing and not seeing the people around her. He waved at her and gave her a soft nod before looking away from her, she didn't know what just happened and she was still staring at the back of his head as he talked to someone sitting next to him but she knew one thing, she wanted to know who he was.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks everyone for the amazing reviews! I really appreciate the feedback, also sorry that it took so long to post and that this one is a bit shorter, but the next one will be up sooner and will be longer for sure! I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters sadly. Please review! :)_

Chapter 2:

She was sitting back against the wall on her bed scribbling lyrics, looking up occasionally as her roommate struggled to finish her homework at her desk. She had been inspired ever since looking at those dark blue eyes. Haley was stunned by herself, she never thought of any guy she met this way, with so much intensity. Every date she went on turned into a bad comedy, especially the one time she dated a washed up singer with an ego the size of Texas, never again. But as she looked down at her lyrics she couldn't believe how she felt. Brooke made a yell in protest scaring Haley out of her trance.

"Oh my god, why do we need to write this much about one fabric? It's not even used that much!" Brooke whined as she was frantically writing notes from google and typing a three paragraph essay due in, 10 minutes.

"Maybe instead of flirting with the guys from orientation, you should've been doing the assignments you were given the first couple days of classes." Haley smirked, only Brooke.

"Hey, I needed intel on all the potential boy toys you could be dating in a month. That and a little flirting and fun never killed anyone." She smiled as she finished typing her essay.

"Who said anything about me dating Tigger, I just want to get through this semester with good grades." Haley's face dropped as she stared at her notebook full of lyrics. She was right, she needed to focus on her classes, she wasn't called Tutor Girl for nothing. Plus she hadn't seen him since orientation, not like they would meet again with her luck.

"I said no more goody goody I meant it, you need to get out more, experience things. Hot guys can be included in that list." Brooke scowled and put her hands on her hips before she waved goodbye, leaving for her next class.

Brooke had a point, there was no way she could go through college like she did high school. Definitely not with New York City waiting for her, she looked over and saw Peyton with her door open sitting like Haley on her bed, but she looked to be drawing on a pad. Maybe she would take Brooke's advice this once. Start small, make friends, try to live differently for once.

"Hey Peyton." She knocked on Peyton's door hoping for the best. Peyton looked up.

"Hey, Haley right?"

"Yeah, I was wondering, Brooke wanted to drag me to this club she heard about in the city, did you want to join us?" She smiled.

"Yeah, sounds cool. Hopefully they have good music there." She smirked looking over at her record collection.

"Cool, we will grab you tonight before we head out." Haley waved then walked back into her room, baby steps, make new friends, first step, don't think about him, second step.

….

Brooke was happily throwing clothes around the room when she heard that they were bringing a new friend along to the club Skillz and Luke told her about. Tric Night Club, sounded like a cool place for them to chill at. She was worried, Haley had seemed like she was in a trance all week and the last thing Brooke wanted was Haley to be stressing all the time from school. They were in the city! They needed to experience new things and have fun. Brooke also wanted to change her habits. She was quite the party girl in high school, being captain of the cheerleaders and popular girl she had a very social life. Maybe reeling that in and getting serious about college was something she needed, fashion was something she took very seriously. She designed and drew sketches all the time and she just needed the right experience to take her further, if that meant giving up some of the things she loved, she would. Still, she wasn't ready to give up having a little fun, especially when her friend was giving off weird vibes.

"Haley, honestly, this is the best outfit for you, stop complaining." She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow challenging her best friend. She was dressed already, wearing a red expensive dress top with cut off sleeves and black dress pants with black stilettos, casual for her.

"Tigger, I don't know, I'm not used to this going out type of thing…" She looked herself up and down, grey skinny jeans, and a black top that hung over her shoulders, little rips here and there and grey strap heels. Not her normal, but she honestly liked this look.

"You can't keep being a grumpy hermit all the time, come on Tutor Girl. You look hot, now let's go before the boys get angry."

Haley sighed, gave herself one more glance over in the mirror then ran across the hall knocking on Peyton's door. Peyton answered sheepishly smiling, she wore black jeans, an old band t-shirt and a black leather jacket.

"Ready you guys?" Brooke smiled behind them.

"Definitely." Peyton nodded.

The boys were waiting downstairs, Skillz was a very chill guy who was here on a scholarship, he was working in the school's athletics department learning the ins and outs of what it means to be a coach. He was quickly becoming a great guy to talk to for Lucas, he definitely lucked out with his roommate. The boys both had on jeans and dress shirts and looked like they were getting aggravated and impatient.

"Jeez, what took you guys so…" He stopped what he was saying, a girl with blond wavy hair was walking up with Brooke and Haley and he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"We needed to perfect ourselves, Lucas, Skillz, this is Peyton Sawyer, totally amazing and ready to have some fun, now let's go!" Brooke wanted to start having some fun now, no need for small chat.

Peyton shook Skillz hand smiling and they nodded at each other, then she nervously smiled and shook Lucas' hand, he seemed to have a dopey grin on his face, both mumbling greetings to each other. Haley could only smile and shake her head to herself, definitely could see those two together. They began walking through the city ready for a night of new beginnings.

"Hey, you guys will love this place, you hoping to get some tonight?" Skillz smiled knocking into Lucas and rubbing his hands together, Luke just shook his head smirking looking back at the girls. He had caught Peyton's eye a couple times, he was hoping to get to talk to her more tonight.

"Oh, okay, I see you, catching the eye of Sawyer over there." Skillz chuckled.

"Maybe, hoping tonight will work for me." Lucas smiled to himself, ready for anything to happen.

They walked to the club as a group taking in some sites along the way and embracing the city as their new home. There was a busy quiet sound to the city that Haley couldn't really put into the right words, but it was beautiful. As the group arrived Skillz waved to the bouncer standing at the top of the stairs and the group proceeded to go in after a special handshake between both of them. From what Haley could see the bar created a circle in the middle, there were pool tables to the side and the stage was being set up while music played over the speakers. This place was definitely going to be their designated hang out spot.

"Let's get some drinks!" Brooke grabbed the girls by their arms and headed for the bar. Just as they reached the bar Haley was bumped into, making her jump five feet and do a little yelp.

"Hey! Not cool dude…" Haley turned and almost lost her balance. Dark blue eyes stared down at her, she stared at him and couldn't open her mouth again. He gave a half smile with sincere eyes.

"I'm sorry I got pushed." He pointed behind him and mumbled another apology before grabbing his drinks and looking at her again, making her grab the bar for balance.

"It's fine." She did a nervous laugh and smiled at him. For a while there was just music as they smiled at each other.

"I better get these drinks to everyone before..." He nodded his head to the side gesturing towards a group of people.

"Yeah, of course…" He walked away looking back a couple times smiling. She stared after him and took a couple deep breaths, somewhat hearing Brooke talking to Peyton about the boys in the club. She couldn't pinpoint what had just happened or if she should've talked more to him. She knew one thing was for sure, she failed with her second step, thinking about him wasn't going to go away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I am so sorry for going MIA. Life happened and the inspiration was gone, but it's back and hopefully will stay. I was worried about whether or not this story was worth writing. I hope this chapter makes up for not having anything posted. I love feedback so please review and let me know what you think!**

 **Enjoy. :)**

Chapter 3:

The club was pretty incredible, there were bands that weren't really known who played alternative music, and the DJ knew how to play the better hits to dance to when they were finished. Peyton, Haley and Brooke were becoming quite the trio, dancing around and having fun with each other while the boys played pool nearby. Every once in a while Luke would glance and catch Peyton's eyes and give off a little goofy half grin. By this point though, Brooke had taken notice, of course this was her life mission, setting people up to find true love. Sure part of her was jealous, the smallest green monster jumping up and down on her shoulder, but her history with Luke was a complicated one. Lucas and her dated for about two years in high school, it happened out of nowhere and he was sweet, but Brooke didn't trust him. Something about their social cliques and the parties they went to, but she had always had trust issues, she could blame her parents for that. This was what led to blown up fights between the two. Haley had to hear their issues and decided to stay quiet about what was happening but in the end they stopped the relationship and tried to repair their friendship for the better. She would always love Luke but she didn't need anyone right now, she had her future to set up, which included her own clothing line to start without distractions. That didn't mean Luke couldn't use the help.

"So, Sawyer, tell us more about yourself." They had gotten a table to stand at between the bar and the pool tables, the music the perfect cover for her dirty work.

"Well I grew up in a small town, my mom died when I was young so it was just my dad and I. Grew up listening to the records she left and now I collect my own. So I suppose you could say I love music more than most people should thanks to her. I can't sing or play an instrument but the lyrics and sound of an artist really draw me in. That's why I want to open my own label, find the artists with real lyrics and sound behind them." Peyton smiled proudly, this was something she loved and could talk about for hours.

"I'm sorry about your mom, have to admit I thought you dealt with something in art or music with the way you dress. But I love your idea, from what I heard the other day Luke, you and me all have the same taste in music. Tigger unfortunately listens to top 40…" Haley could only shake her head.

"Hey! If the lyrics and beat don't bounce neither does this Tigger. Speaking of which lets grab the boys and dance this song rocks!" Brooke squealed excitingly as she dragged the girls over to the pool tables, attempting to move her friends to the dance floor. So far they had the same music taste, she could work with that. But she could also work with the fact that they were in a club and close dancing would also work.

Haley and Brooke danced together around Skillz who looked ecstatic at the attention, pretty girls dancing of course he would be smiling. They were pushing Peyton and Luke together not that they needed to be moved any closer since hitting the dance floor they seemed to drift towards each other anyway. God, if every night is like this I could get used to the city life, Haley thought as Skillz twirled her and Brooke in and then out of his body. She was laughing and having a good time when she noticed the two people near her dancing or well jeez dry humping on the dance floor. What really made her smile drop was the raven head of hair she recognized and the tongue she saw disappear down the brunette's throat he was attached to. She stood dumbly for a minute and then shook her head, all thoughts of the blue eyed boy right out of her brain. She should've figured that he was a taken. Brooke noticed the switch in the atmosphere quickly and looked at Haley stopping her dancing with Skillz in concern for her friend. Haley just shook her head again at her and then threw a smile on, grabbing Brooke and starting dancing again.

Brooke, Haley, and Peyton decided to drag themselves off of the dance floor to the bathrooms for a much needed break. Brooke could tell something was wrong, especially after the way Haley looked as disappointed as she did. So she offered to go to the bathroom with her hoping for a little privacy to chat, Peyton of course agreeing to tag along.

"Hey, Tutor Girl everything okay? Why the long face?" Brooke asked her after they walked up to the line.

"Nothing, I just realized how much work I have to do before class and kind of freaked a little." Haley shrugged and waved her hands as if to dismiss what she thought was, well she didn't know what with a random stranger. All of this sounded quite crazy in her head, she was just hoping to forget and ignore the random bit of butterflies in her gut.

Brooke gave her a pointed look and a nod. "Alright but knowing you, the homework is probably done or will be done in one hour tomorrow so no more worrying. Did you see the amount of good looking guys here tonight?"

Peyton snorted. "Of course that's what you have been thinking about."

"Well excuse me if I want to scope out a few potential bits of fun for me later on." She looked mock offended for a second then grinned wickedly, Haley and Peyton only shaking their heads. Brooke then turned to Peyton slightly, smiling widely.

"Besides Sawyer don't think I haven't noticed you scoping out Lucas, not every day our resident Broody gets an intelligent and beautiful girl catching his eye." She winked at her before they went to the bathrooms. Peyton could only shake her head.

As they exited the bathrooms after washing up they went to the bar to get more to drink looking for Luke and Skillz along the way. Haley almost froze on the spot but decidedly kept her cool as she noticed they were talking with Mr. Blue-Eyes himself and a couple other guys. The girl he was sucking face off of dangling from his arm with a couple other girls hanging around flirting with the other guys in the circle. _Okay Haley, no big deal, you have to interact with some random guy who randomly gives you butterflies, you have done this before, and you can do this now. He is with someone it's not a big deal._ She walked up behind them with Peyton and Brooke as Lucas turned smiling and moving closer to Peyton as he did so.

"Welcome back, we were just talking with some guys here who play basketball as well. This is Jake and Nathan, the girls here are Rachel, Alex and Bevin. Oh! And that's Tim…" He looked over for a second shaking his head as the smaller guy failed at hitting on some girl with horrible pick-up lines then focused his attention back to the group. "This is Brooke, Peyton, and Haley. They go to the same school as we do."

They all smiled and greeted each other, something felt off about Rachel and Alex to the girls but Bevin seemed cool, Skillz was really taking a liking anyway. Haley at least could put a name to the face now, Nathan, great. As she looked over and he noticed her finally, his seemingly smug smirk faltered.

"Well let's all jump over to the pool tables and we can chat more about the shitty basketball team they apparently have at our school." Jake smiled and motioned with his hand towards a couple empty tables.

They made their way over to the tables and Haley began to feel more nervous, why was she nervous? This was stupid. She sighed and sat down near Brooke as she chatted with the other girls, always the social butterfly. Nathan had looked over at her as they started a game of pool, and kept stealing glances but she ignored the twist in her stomach as he did. Trying not to think about him she explained to Peyton her job at the tutor/writing center she would be starting come next week as Peyton explained her internship with a record label. Neither girl really wanting to deal with the new people brought into this new group they had acquired. After a few rounds and every one getting a little buzzed and tired, the gang decided to call it a night. Agreeing to walk back together to the dorms as a large group. The walk was slow but Haley was zoned out and hadn't noticed someone beginning to walk behind her, pushing through some of the group in an effort to try and chat with her. Nor did she notice the torn up sidewalk, causing her to almost fall, almost...

Two strong arms circled her waist and pulled her backward as she started to fall forward. She huffed out a breath, she couldn't even blame the two drinks she had, her klutzy nature caused her to fall over almost everything. She then felt the warm body behind her, still holding her she might add, starting to lightly chuckle causing her to whip her head back.

"Had one too many?" _Oh no that voice… How could a voice sound so…?_ She had no words, she could only stare wide eyed at him. Then she decided to wave off the insult that she couldn't handle her drinks and glared at him while looking offended.

"Excuse me but I can handle two drinks. I'm just klutzy, but thank you for you know, stopping me from face planting. You can let me go now…" She nodded once, held her head high and removed his arms from around her. He almost looked confused with her attitude but she just kept walking.

She also tried to ignore Brooke's leering smirk and narrowed eyes, but something told her she wasn't going to get away with the little interaction that just happened with Nathan. As the group reached the dorms they waved goodbye each going their separate ways. Nathan had looked back at her before he left fully, nodding his head at her. Both giving each other small smiles before officially turning around. The damn butterflies coming at Haley in a giant wave, all the way back to her room. As soon as Brooke and Haley reached their room waving goodbye officially to Peyton, Brooke all but pounced.

"Okay so you want to tell me what's going on with Mr. Handsome or am I going to have to tie you up and get a confession out of you?" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow waiting.

"I just…ugh! I honestly don't know. I saw him before and thought that maybe the butterflies and shy smiles between us could mean this was a reasonable crush. It was a weird feeling but after watching him vacuum clean some girl's face off on the dance floor tonight, it went away." She sighed dramatically and sat down on her bed.

Brooke had both eyebrows raised. "Tutor girl had a crush and I didn't know, damn. But I mean maybe it was just the booze?"

"I don't know, but honestly with the new city and schoolwork overload maybe crushing isn't such a good idea right now." She sighed again and flopped back onto her back on her bed. Brooke crossed the room and sat down next to her patting her knee.

"Hey, maybe fooling around with some hot guy wouldn't be bad for you though. You're a little uptight sometimes Tutor girl…"

She looked up at her and glared. "Thanks." She replied dryly.

"I'm just saying when do you ever just let loose and have fun that way?"

"Not normally no, but he looked to be with someone anyway…"

Brooke thought for a moment then nodded. "Well I can tell you what, just based off of my interaction with his 'girlfriend'" She made quotation movements near her head. "She seemed like the type to mess around with more than one boy. Maybe that's all they were doing."

"Judging quickly aren't we?"

"Hey, I have pretty good intuition about people and you know that." She pointed at Haley and began to get up to get around for bed.

"Besides Hales, maybe you should try the jock type out. Do something, or well, someone you aren't used to for once."

She laid there and thought long and hard about what Brooke was proposing, then rolled her eyes. She didn't like hooking up and was a romantic at heart so whatever Brooke had just suggested was completely ignored from the start. She sat up and began getting around for bed too.

"I don't think so Tigger, that's not me and you know it. Even the whole jock thing is off-putting…" Brooke then looked at her and shrugged.

"To each their own Tutor Girl. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Tigger."

Brooke had to admit, he looked the jock type and the non-commitment type. Bad combo, and the girl he was with, god she was the popular bitch type that was an instant assessment. Usually she would give the benefit of the doubt but her best friend deserved to end up with someone pretty amazing to match her amazing. Maybe if they interacted more and ended up getting to know each other, something could stir from this. Who knows if he was a good guy or not, but she knew that maybe she wasn't just going to play match maker with more than one couple.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the responses so far on Chapter 3! I really do like the feedback. Here is a little treat for you guys, a little shorter but it sets up for more of the story. Please keep reviewing hopefully I'll have another chapter up before next week! Enjoy!**

Chapter 4:

Haley was practically bouncing around the room much to Brooke's shock after the weekend's events. But Haley couldn't help but feel excited, she loved getting to Tutor and help others. The look of realization that dawned on the other persons face after they got a question right, it made all the frustration and work worth it. So here she was jumping around the room with music playing in the background getting around her outfit for the day as Brooke sketched from her desk nodding her head along to the beat too. It was the sort of day that Luke on the other hand, just wanted to sleep in. He rolled out of bed grabbing his bathroom supplies and quickly got around, chuckling to himself as Skillz snored from the other side of the room. He was just as excited for the day, hoping that his literature classes would provide him with people who he could actually hold a conversation with based on the books he always had in his hand. Sure basketball took priority but reading was always a comfort for him, no one knew he was working on a novel of his own. That was why he chose to be an English major, with a focus in writing. He wanted to be published with the greats one day, and for that to happen he needed to work on his skills as a writer. Just as he was getting his stuff around there was a knock on his dorm room door. Opening it his best friend Haley stood looking ready for the day smirking.

"Come on loser let's go to class."

He smiled and nodded walking out with her into the campus. There weren't many people this early but the few students who were out look about as ready as can be for the first real classes of the semester to begin.

"So are you excited for the start of the school year Hales?"

"Sure, I mean this is setting up the pathway to our futures. Couldn't be any more terrifying than that right?" She grinned at him as he shoved his hands in his pockets slouching in the way he always did.

"Very true." He chuckled and they continued on in silence. They stopped at a coffee cart out on the quad hoping that the caffeine might help with waking so early. Haley had noticed the raven hair as soon as they got in line but tried to ignore it, choosing to listen to Luke talk about one of the books he was excited to re-read for a class. But Nathan had turned and caught Haley's eye as soon as he did, he slowly made his way back standing in front of the pair smiling.

"Luke, Haley, how are you guys?"

"Pretty good, you got class this early too?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah an English class to fill the requirement. Really I'm only here for basketball, not the best school for it, but they were the only ones to take me after an incident. Any chance I can get I suppose." He shrugged.

"Sorry to hear that, hey Hales and I have an English class this morning too. Want company?"

"Sure sounds alright." Nathan smiled, looking down at Haley and making her heart skip a beat.

 _Damn Lucas and his damn social skills. Wasn't he supposed to be the introvert too?_ She frowned as they all waited for their coffees in silence enjoying the quiet of the morning before the big crowds covered campus.

As they walked to campus Nathan stayed close to Haley, hoping to work up the courage to talk to her. She wasn't his usual ditzy girl, she seemed smart and head strong. She was beautiful though, big brown eyes and wavy brunette hair. He had done his fair share of fooling around in high school and was beginning to think that maybe it was time to stop being like his old man and find him a girl he can settle down with. Something that always nagged him in the back of his mind when he would mess around with some random girl at a party. He had big dreams, making it to the NBA would be hard after what he did but he was sure as hell going to try, that didn't mean he couldn't find someone to share that dream with though. She looked to be pretty deep in thought when he glanced at her, her eyebrows were pulled together and she had this sort of scowl on her face.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He offered maybe starting to talk to her would be a step in the right direction. She jumped a little hearing him so close to her.

"Oh nothing just wondering what this year is going to be like. I'm not particularly a city girl so this is definitely a new experience to me."

"I'm only sort of used to the city myself, maybe one of these days we can roam and check it out?" That was smooth, maybe this is his way into knowing her.

"Uh….sure." She stared at him a little wide eyed, _did he just ask me to go do something?_ There was slight panic in her demeanor after that, thankfully Luke swoops in to save the day before she could truly make a fool of herself by rambling or tripping… again.

"So where are you from Nathan? We didn't get to chat much at the club." Lucas asks.

"Oh I'm from North Carolina originally, born in Charlotte but my dad grew up in a small town near there. We moved around a lot because he wanted me to have the best basketball experience possible. He sent me to a lot of different programs and camps for years. His brother still lives in the small town there I'm pretty sure never met the guy, the place is called Tree Hill." Haley and Lucas exchanged glances.

"What a small world actually we are from Tree Hill... What did you say your last name was again?" Luke asked almost a little panicked.

"It's…." Before he could answer someone was calling his name from across the quad.

"Nathan!" That girl Rachel came practically skipping over and hugging his side awkwardly it seemed to Haley he didn't want the interaction. Looking at Haley before for a second before looking back at the Rachel girl.

"Hey, Rachel. What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd come see your fine ass. You have class? I'll walk with you." She smiled and then turned looking at Lucas then slightly glaring at Haley.

"Actually I was walking with Haley and Lucas." He watched Rachel's face drop a little then pick back up. He wasn't dating Rachel they had only messed around a bit when he first moved to the city.

"It's okay your girlfriend can join us." Haley smiled tightly at him. She was confused when he shook his head.

"She isn't my girlfriend…" Nathan shrugged as Rachel narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yeah I'm not, I have other toys to play with anyway. I'll see you around Nate." She flipped her hair and strutted off, Haley should really listen to Brooke more often.

They had reached the classroom after a couple more minutes of walking and the boys discussing basketball techniques. Nathan was turning out to be an alright guy, a little quieter than she had thought but that was actually cute. Luke and him got along great maybe they had a new addition to their little group.

"Hey turns out we have the same class this morning, what are the chances." Nathan smiled at her causing her to smile back.

As the three of them took their seats the professor began to pass out the syllabus that for the semester, Lucas already looking through the reading list and critiquing the selections.

"I'm just going to call out your names, if you're called, just say here." The professor called out from behind his desk. He began calling out names students yelling here loudly to make sure they were actually marked for attendance.

"Haley James."

"Here!" She looked around the class was pretty full it was taking a while before Luke was called, Nathan wasn't called yet either, his name must be towards the end then.

"Lucas Scott."

"Here." Luke nodded at the professor.

"Nathan Scott."

"Here."

Lucas and Haley had whipped their heads pretty quickly in his direction, all three looking at each other with questioning glances.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey guys! Quick update, and it's a bit short but I'm not leaving you hanging I promise! Just very busy but after this week is done there will be way more updates and hopefully this story can really take off! Hope you like the outcome or what's going on, I think it's a little all over the place right now but your reviews are really helping me push this story along so thank you so much! As always please review, and enjoy :)_

Haley could see Luke's leg bouncing up and down rapidly from her seat. She was just as anxious as he was. This didn't normally happen, things like this don't happen. At least not unless it's some fiction novel where the protagonist is the evil undiscovered twin brother. Haley could see Nathan was a little tense, but giving confused glances towards Luke and her. Maybe he didn't know, how could he know that he was Luke's brother? Of course what kind of father hides something like that from his own son? Luke's "father" would, from what she has heard from Karen and Keith, Dan Scott was a malicious asshole, known for being narcissistic and egotistical as hell. So many questions were swarming through her head she didn't even recognize that the class was wrapping up for the day. Before she could register Luke was out the door in an instant, probably ready to call his uncle and freak out. Haley walked out and looked around, not spotting Nathan either. This morning was only just beginning.

She walked slowly back to her dorm still trying to process what had just happened. Brooke was still at her desk sketching when Haley walked through the door in a haze, she briefly looked up watching her walk to her bed and sink down on it blinking blankly at the wall. She looked back down at her sketch then back at Haley. Brooke tilted her head at her in wonder, Haley was never this quiet after attending a class she liked.

"How was class Tutor Girl?" She set down her pencil lightly and turned slowly towards, lifting an eyebrow and giving her a curious look.

"Alright, got coffee with Nathan and Luke, chatted with them, and listened to the beginning of the endless amount of novels we need to read. Possibly found out Luke and Nathan are brothers…" Haley just blinked at her, Brooke's eyes widening quickly.

"Wait, what?! Are you sure? Like how did you guys find that out even? Is Luke okay?"

"Yeah I'm sure. Nathan talked about his family and everything matched with Luke. Honestly it was a little creepy and I don't think Luke is okay…" Haley shook her head sighing, maybe she should try and find him.

"You know how he gets worked up. I wouldn't bug him just yet, he needs to freak out, brood then sit in his thoughts and then he will say something. I'd give him maybe until the evening and then call him or go to his room and see how he is holding up." Brooke looked thoughtful and worried, Luke wasn't known for handling situations very well. Haley knew Brooke could actually keep a level head more than the rest of them sometimes, so maybe Haley could convince her to come with her later to check on him.

The girls went about their business, turning on some music again to lighten the mood after such a tense situation. Haley hoped Lucas was alright, he did tend to get a bit dramatic and short-tempered about things that stressed him out. She hoped that Nathan was alright too, he looked just as tense and confused as Lucas did. Did he have the same realization? He must have, she wished she could've talked to him after class. Must be him and Lucas have some of the same traits. Haley shook her head. Brooke was putting her sketches in her portfolio glancing at Haley every few seconds, she took a deep breath and clapped her hands together, smiling at Haley.

"Maybe we could convince Peyton to go into the city to get dinner later too." Brooke smiled at her, trying to distract her clearly.

"Yeah sounds good to me." Haley shrugged, she had her eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, Haley, don't worry I'm sure that Luke is okay." Brooke sat down next to her both girls staring off thinking of their best friend.

"I hope so." She hoped Nathan was alright too…

Lucas was currently pacing his room, the feeling of being trapped encasing him. Was Nathan his half-brother? He was debating with himself on whether to call Keith or not, how could he hide something like that from him? He knew his dad was a piece of shit but for Keith to hide that he had a brother somewhere, well it actually hurt. He took out his phone and dialed the number he knew by heart, hopefully getting him at a time he wasn't working.

" _Keith's auto body garage, this is Keith speaking._ " Lucas took a deep breath.

"Hey Keith, it's Luke…"

" _Hey kid! How's the big city treating ya?_ "

"It's not so bad, but Keith I actually called because I need to ask you something. And you have to be honest with me." Lucas sighed as he sat down on his bed.

" _Sure Luke, what's the question?_ "

"Well, I know we don't talk about Dan a lot, but did… did Dan ever have another kid?"

" _I'm going to be honest with you Luke, I swore to him I wouldn't say anything. He didn't want Karen or you to know_ -" Luke cut him off yelling at him through the phone.

"You should've told me! Don't you think me having a brother, even you knew about, was important! Dan may be shit but you, I didn't think you could hide something like this from me! From mom!"

" _Lucas, calm down. Dan didn't want anything to do with you or your mom. Do you think it would've been fair to you knowing you had a brother out there and not be able to even meet the kid? I was only doing it to protect you! Your mother only found out four years ago and thought the same as I did after some arguing._ "

"So she knew too?..." This, was something that hurt pretty badly for Luke. He didn't understand why either, this guy was his half-brother. Unfortunately Dan Scott's kid, but both Keith and his mom knew about him. Maybe the idea that everyone hid something this big from him hurt more than the idea of a brother being in the background.

" _Yes, and we are sorry for not telling you sooner. How did you even know he was there?_ "

"We met here at the college. He is here playing basketball, told me about his dad and how he was from Tree Hill. That he had an uncle somewhere there, wasn't really hard to put everything together, his last name is Scott too. I knew Dan lived in Charlotte, no one else in our town has the last name Scott, Keith."

" _Well I'll be damned. Guess you two had to meet sooner or later. Why don't you take some time to calm down Luke, think about that kid right now probably just as confused or angry as you are. Do you think he knows too?_ "

"I'm not sure, I ran out of the room pretty quickly. Guess I should go find him and talk to him first."

" _Sounds like a good idea to me. I'm sorry again for not saying anything. Take care Luke, don't be afraid to call me, and call your mom! She is worried about ya_."

"Alright, alright Keith. Talk soon."

" _Bye Luke_."

Lucas hung up the phone, realizing he was just irritated and confused now. What would he even say to him? His thoughts were running around when there was a knock on his door. He got up slowly slouching out of irritation and swung the door open, shocked who was on the other side. Nathan stood in front of him, eyebrows furrowed and hands in pockets.

"Hey we need to talk…"


End file.
